The Olive Tree

Bath has exactly one Michelin star, and it has belonged to Chris Cleghorn since 2018. That is the first thing to understand about a city better known for Roman plumbing and cream teas than for serious cooking: the competition for your best evening here is thinner than the Georgian crowds suggest, and The Olive Tree, in the basement of the Queensberry Hotel on Russell Street, wins it without breaking a sweat.

Cleghorn trained under Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck and alongside Michael Caines, and the cooking shows both lineages: technical precision without the theatre, regional ingredients without the lecture. The seven-course tasting menu runs £175, with a five-dish version at £145 and a three-dish set at £100. The dish that justifies the spend is the Isle of Skye langoustine grilled over binchotan with Wye Valley asparagus and lovage — sweet, smoky, barely touched. Cornish lobster gets the same charcoal treatment. Where weaker kitchens pile on garnish, Cleghorn takes things away.

The room is where the value argument wobbles. It is comfortable, low-lit and quiet enough to propose in, with townhouse proportions and service paced to the food rather than the table-turn. But it is a hotel basement, and no amount of warm lighting fully disguises that. You are paying three-star money for one-star surroundings. The plate, not the postcode, earns the score.

Book the Olive Tree for a proposal for three concrete reasons: the room is quiet enough to be heard, the kitchen will happily build a course around the moment, and the Queensberry's bedrooms are directly upstairs, so the night need not end with a taxi. Ask for a corner of the room when you reserve, take the wine pairing built on the list's French and Italian strengths, and let the Michelin-starred langoustine course do the softening before you say anything.

Skip it if you came to Bath for a grand dining room. This is a low-ceilinged hotel basement, and guests who equate £175 with chandeliers and a view will feel short-changed by the setting even when the food delivers.

Is it worth £175? If you judge by the plate, yes — this is the only Michelin-starred kitchen in Bath, held since 2018, and Cleghorn cooks with more restraint and better produce than anyone else in the city. Just know you are paying for the cooking, not the basement it happens in.

How far ahead should I book? Four to six weeks for Friday and Saturday evenings; midweek and lunch open up closer in. Booking is direct through the Queensberry Hotel, and because the room turns once a night there is no cancellation lottery to game.

What should I order? The seven-course tasting, and the binchotan langoustine within it. The Cornish lobster over charcoal is the other dish to look for. Take the wine pairing if you want the kitchen's argument made in full.

Beyond The Olive Tree, Bath's dining scene rewards deeper exploration. See all restaurants in Bath or discover our Impress Clients guide for the best tables across every city. Our editorial journal covers Britain's evolving restaurant culture in depth.